The Handover of 1997 and Its Effects on the Hong Kong Aviation Industry

Abstract

This paper explains the logistics behind the Handover Hong Kong on July 1st, 1997— an event transition Hong Kong from a sovereign British state to the special administrative region status of the People’s Republic of China. More importantly, it propounds that the Handover of Hong Kong had an indirect but nevertheless negative effect on Hong Kong’s Aviation Industry— most notably affecting the leading Hong Kong airline and air transport company Cathay Pacific. It explores this idea through a critical secondary literature review— intended to analyse the events occurring in Hong Kong prior and during the year 1997 alongside its effects on the industry. Furthermore, employing a case study design on Cathay Pacific enables the research paper to carry out a more structural analysis of the company’s performances in the late 20th century. It takes a macro-to-micro approach for its structure; first explaining the general trends and resilience of the global aviation sector, through developing an analytical lens. Then it uses Cathay Pacific’s performance to evidence the generalised theories. Overall, Hong Kong’s aviation industry saw only slightly deviated results to both empirical and theoretical behaviours of global aviation and air transport airlines following events often causing what is known as a career shock: a disruptive and extraordinary event caused by factors outside an individual’s control.